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Much Ado About Nothing

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United Kingdom, United States · 1993
Rated PG-13 · 1h 51m
Director Kenneth Branagh
Starring Denzel Washington, Keanu Reeves, Michael Keaton, Kenneth Branagh
Genre Comedy, Drama, Romance

In this Shakespearean farce, Hero and her groom-to-be, Claudio, team up with Claudio's commanding officer the week before their wedding to hatch a matchmaking scheme. Their targets are sharp-witted duo Benedick and Beatrice — a tough task considering their mutual distaste for love and each other. Meanwhile, meddling Don John plots to ruin the wedding.

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What are critics saying?

75

TV Guide Magazine by

Branagh's use of trendy extended tracking and steadicam shots is sometimes distracting, but overall this is a jouyous romp whose forced jollity is only occasionally wearing.

80

Empire by Angie Errigo

It's easy to dismiss Branagh's Shakespeare productions as nothing new, but before he went on to more heavy duty fare such as Hamlet, he made this bright, accessible romantic comedy which still stands out as one of his greater directorial efforts. The cast are a joy to watch, while the beautiful location matches the romantic mood.

100

ReelViews by James Berardinelli

Much Ado about Nothing is a gem of a movie - a real find in 1993's sea of mediocrity. Branagh has successfully used a mixed cast of "names" and "unknowns" to breathe life into this lavish production, and never has Shakespeare been more warmly received. I'm not sure if "feel good" has ever been used to describe a picture based on the Bard's work, but the expression fits. This film cements Branagh's status as a great director of Shakespeare, and perhaps of film in general, as well.

90

Los Angeles Times by Kenneth Turan

Actors as well as athletes have a prime of life, a time when everything they touch seems a miracle. And the crowning pleasure of watching Emma Thompson and Kenneth Branagh in this rollicking version of Much Ado About Nothing is the way it allows us to share in that state of special grace, to watch the English-speaking world’s reigning acting couple perform at the top of their game.

50

Rolling Stone by Peter Travers

The climax, in which all the characters link arms in a dance and sing, could serve as a textbook illustration of forced gaiety. Much Ado is much askew.

80

Variety by Todd McCarthy

A film that is continuously enjoyable from its action-filled opening to the dazzling final shot, one that offers a very generous welcome to newcomers to the play, and reminds those familiar with it of its heady pleasures. Only real drawback, and not an insignificant one, is pic’s visual quality, which is unaccountably undistinguished, even ugly, especially considering the sun-drenched Tuscan location.

90

The New York Times by Vincent Canby

He has taken a Shakespearean romantic comedy, the sort of thing that usually turns to mush on the screen, and made a movie that is triumphantly romantic, comic and, most surprising of all, emotionally alive.

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